Trump’s administration has been thrown into fresh chaos with the sudden departure of a key defender of his immigration policies
Donald Trump’s administration has been thrown into chaos as a key spokesperson unexpected quit.
Tricial McLaughlin was Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem’s spokesperson – and a frequent voice defending the administration’s hardline immigration crackdown on TV and on social media.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for Trump’s ICE and Border Protection squads, which have faced a furious backlash over their behaviour in Minneapolis in recent months.
And last week Noem was the subject of a scathing and embarrassing profile in the Wall Street Journal, which reported her department was in “constant chaos” – and which has sparked speculation that Noem herself would step down. McLaughlin’s departure, first reported in Politico, will only intensify scrutiny on the department.
McLaughlin was one of the most high-profile defenders of ICE and DHS following the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
In interviews about her role, McLaughlin has described media work as a “war”.
“Media is so much of the battle, so to speak, on the immigration issue,” She told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“So much of the debate is a [public relations] debate. It’s a PR war.”
According to CNN, McLaughlin started to plan her departure from DHS in December, but stayed to deal with the aftermath of the two shootings.
McLaughlin has previously refused to rule out standing for office herself.
Her departure also comes as DHS enters a partial “shutdown”, after congressional Democrats demanded greater oversight of immigration officers in return for approving funding for the department.
Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted after last month’s fatal shootings, including a ban on agents wearing masks to hide their identities, mandatory body cameras, stricter rules on warrants and an end to “roving patrols”.
DHS officially shut down on Saturday, after a two-week package of stopgap funding expired.
But the work of ICE and CBP will mostly continue as normal, thanks to billions in funding from Trump’s 2025 tax and spending cut law.